Ten Spooky Stories
by Yami's Devil
Summary: From an evil baby sister, to a remote control that can control more than just the television set, to a teacher who's obsessed with snakes, to a cute, cuddly, teddy bear gone BAD, here are ten creepy, spooky stories based with the Yugioh characters! Note: Each chapter is their own story, none are related in any way.
1. House of No Return

Hiya!

Yugi: What story are you planning on torturing us with?

A R.L Stine's story line!

Everyone: NOOOOOOOOOOO!

HEY!

_**DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH! OR THE CHAPTER STORY LINES! THEY RIGHTFULLY BELONG TO R.L STINE!**_

* * *

The House of No Return

We were afraid to go too close to the house, so we stayed down at the street, staring at it. Staring across the bare, sloping front yard. No grass was able to grow in that yard, the trees, gnarled and bent, were all dead. Not even weeds sprouted in the dry, cracked dirt. At the top of the sloping yard, the house seemed to stare back at us. The two upstairs windows gaped like two unblinking black eyes. The house was wide and solid-looking, built of bricks that had been painted white many years ago, but now the paint was fading and peeling. Spots of red brick showed through the like bloodstains, which made it look even more creepy at night.

The window shutters were cracked, several had fallen off, which gave the house a haunted look. The beams of the front porch tilted dangerously, a strong wind could blow the porch over easily. No one lived there, the house had been empty for years and years, longer than we can remember. No one _could_ live there. The house was _definitely_ haunted, everyone in the city said it was. There was a legend of the house, and everyone knew of it: if you spent the night inside that house, you would never come back out. And that's exactly why we brought kids there, that's why we dared them to go inside.

You couldn't join our Dangerous Shadows Club unless you stayed in the house – by yourself – for an hour. Staring up at the house, bathed in a haze of pale moonlight, I shivered and zipped up my jacket all the way up to my chin. I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at my friends.

"How long has he been in there, Bakura?' Marik asked me.

Seto and I both raised out wrists to check our watches. "Only ten minutes," I told Marik.

"Fifty minutes to go," Marik said. "Think he'll make it?"

"That Ryou is pretty brave," I replied thoughtfully, watching the moon disappear behind a cloud. "He might last another five minutes!" I said grinning.

Marik and Seto snickered along with me. The three of us felt safe down here by the end of the street. Poor Ryou probably didn't feel too safe right now, well, he _is_ inside a haunted house. Trying to stay there an hour so he could join our club.

I turned and saw a light rolling silently over the street, coming towards us, a white, ghostly light. My breath caught in my throat.

_/It's a car,/_ I realized, as it floated closer.

A car with only one headlight, the first car we'd seen all night. The beam from the headlight washed over my two friends and me, forcing us to shield our eyes. As it passed, we turned back the the house – and heard a a shrill scream. A wail of pure terror.

"Here he comes!" Marik cried.

Sure enough, Ryou burst through the front door, he stumbled off the crumbling porch and came tearing across the dead, bare yard. His hands waved wildly in front of him, his head was tilted back, and his mouth was frozen open in one long, high shriek of fright.

"Ryou – what did you see?" I called. "Did you see a ghost?"

"S-something touched my _face_!" he wailed. He ran right past Seto, Marik, and me, screaming his head right off.

"Probably only a spiderweb," I murmured.

"Bakura – we've got to stop him!" Seto cried.

"Ryou! Hey – Ryou!" we called him name and chased after him, our sneakers slapping loudly on the pavement.

Waving his arms frantically and screaming, leaning into the wind, Ryou kept running. We would never catch him at this rate.

"He'll run home," I said breathlessly. I stopped and leaned over, pressing my hands against my knees, trying to catch my breath. Up ahead, we could still hear poor Ryou's frightened wails.

"Guess he doesn't join the club." I said, still breathing hard.

"What do we do now?" Seto asked, glancing back at the house.

"I guess we find another victim." I replied.

Yugi Mouto seemed like the perfect victim, he had lived in Domino City before, but moved away, he had recently moved back into Domino City with his grampa after staying in Egypt with some friends for a year. And he started in the eleventh grade like me and we had a few classes together. Yugi had pale amethyst eyes and was very short, he had gravity defying hair that stuck up in five points. His hair was in three colors, purple, black, and blond, he was a kind but shy kid, and he seemed really nice. One day after school, I saw Yugi walking home and I hurried to catch up with him. It was a windy October day, all around us, red and yellow leaves were falling from the trees. It looked like it was raining leaves. I said hi to Yugi and started telling him about our club, I asked if he wanted to join.

"It's only for brave people," I explained. "In order to join, you have to spend one hour at night inside the house on Willow Hill."

Yugi stopped walking and turned to me, squinting at me with those pale amethyst eyes. "That house is still there? I thought they tore it down, and besides, isn't it supposed to be haunted?" he asked.

I laughed. "You don't believe in ghosts – do you?"

He didn't smile, he expression turned very serious, the light seemed to fade even more in his eyes. "I'm not very brave." he said softly.

We started to walk again, our sneakers crunched on the leaves strewn over the sidewalk. "We'd really like you to join the club," I told him. "You're brave enough to spend one hour in an empty house, aren't you?"

He shrugged and lowered his eyes. "I-I don't think so," he stammered. "I've always been afraid of being alone in dark rooms," he admitted. "I believed there was a monster in my closet until I was eight!"

I laughed at his joke, but his expression remained solemn, this kid _definitely_ wasn't kidding.

"When I go to a scary movie," Yugi continued. "I have to duck under the seat when the scary parts come on."

Marik and Seto came running up to us. "Are you going to do it?" Marik asked Yugi. "Are you going to join the club?"

Yugi shoved his hands deep in his jean pockets. "Did you guys spend an hour in the house?" he asked. Seto smirked while Marik laughed his heart out.

I shook my head. "We don't have to," I told him. "We started the club, so we don't have to go in the house. We already know we like danger, new members have to prove themselves."

Yugi chewed thoughtfully at his lower lip, we turned the corner and kept walking. The house was up the hill, at the end of the block, we stopped in front of it and stared at it. It looked creepy even during the daytime, but I wasn't ready to say that out loud.

"See? It doesn't look scary at all during the daytime." I said.

Yugi swallowed hard. "Needs a paint job," he muttered. "And how come all the trees died?"

"No one to take care of them," Seto said.

"How about it Yugi?" I urged. "We really need new members."

"Yeah," Marik agreed. "A club isn't much fun with only three teens in it."

Yugi had his eyes on the house, he kept his hands jammed in his jean pockets. I thought I saw him shiver, but it might have been the wind rustling his jacket.

"W-will you come with me?" he asked.

"No way," I said flatly, shaking my head.

"We can't," Seto explained. "The idea of the club is to show how brave you are."

"We won't come in," Marik said. "But we'll wait out front for you."

"Come on, Yugi," I urged. "Do it, it'll be fun! It's almost Halloween, get in the spirit!"

He swallowed a couple of times, staring up at the house, then he shook his head. "I really don't want to." he murmured in a low voice, so low I could barely hear him. "Guess I'm kind of a scaredy-cat."

I started to plead with him, and if Marik or Seto told _anybody_ that I held my hands together in a pleading signal, I would smother them in my sleep. But I could see that Yugi was really embarrassed, so I didn't say anymore. Yugi waved good-bye and hurried off towards his house, Seto, Marik, and I watched him until he disappeared around the corner.

"Now what?" Seto asked.

We held a club meeting at my house two nights later, it was a pretty boring meeting. None of us could think of another cool kid to join our club. And we couldn't think of anything fun to do.

"Halloween is Saturday," I moaned. "We should be able to think of something scary to do."

"What are you going to dress up as?" Marik asked Seto.

"An Egyptian Priest," Seto replied. "I've already got the outfit and the fake golden scepter that goes with the outfit."

"But weren't you a Priest last year?" Marik asked.

"So? I _like_ being a Priest! It's better than you dressing up as a weird Egyptian Guard!" Seto snapped, slamming his laptop shut.

"At least I _change_ the way my outfit looks every year." Marik muttered.

Yes, Marik planned to dress up as a Egyptian Guard, but with a few of his own modifications. He always makes two to three changes every year. Me, I was planning on being an Egyptian thief, with the blood red cloak and the painted scar over my eye and everything.

"We need more club members," Seto sighed. "You can't have a club with just three people."

"Yugi would be perfect," I replied. "If only he weren't such a scaredy-cat."

"You know," Marik said. "it would be really good for Yugi to get over his fears."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked. It's not every day Marik says something that makes actual sense.

"I mean we could help Yugi out," Marik replied, smiling. "We could help him be brave."

I still didn't understand. "Marik – what are you saying?"

His smile grew ever wider. "We could _force_ him to go into the house."

I called Yugi later that night and invited him to go trick-or-treating with us. He said yes, he also sounded really grateful. I assumed that he didn't have very many people to do something like this with. He had left this school a year ago, and most of the people he knew had moved away or had been switched to a different school. And not very many people talk to him. The three of us met at my house on Halloween, Marik flicked the piece of metal that was on the edge of his spear and kept grinning and laughing like a madman. I was very good looking, with the help of Seto, I had a very real-looking scar over my left eye and two scars across that one. Seto had been practicing his speech of the Egyptian accent, he was very good at it too, I of course didn't bother.

"Where's Yugi?" Seto asked in his Egyptian accent. It was so good, I almost spun around to see who was speaking. "Is he meeting us here?"

"Yeah, where is he?" Marik demanded.

We were all a little tense, we were playing a mean trick on Yugi, we knew he would be mad. But by the end of the night, he'd feel good and will be thanking us for forcing him to go in there. The doorbell rang and we all went to answer it, Yugi stood there in the porch light. His face was covered in something that made his skin look tanned, he had a weird fake golden crown on his head and was wearing something that looking like a dress. Seto had once told me that it was a tunic and young kids in Egypt used to wear them, he also had a dark purple cape draped over his back. He raised his hand in a friendly wave, it was also covered in the strange stuff that changed his skin tone. Seto smirked, Marik laughed, and I snorted.

"What are you suppose to be – a weird Gypsy dancer?" I joked.

Yugi looked hurt. "No, I'm an Egyptian Pharaoh." my eyes widened as I realized that he was in the same theme as me and my friends.

"Very scary," I lied. I handed out trick-or-treat bag. "Let's get going." I lied again and led the way down the driveway and up the street.

We stopped at a couple of houses and collected candy so we wouldn't give Yugi any ideas by not stopping at any. It was a cool, windy night with a tiny silver of the moon, gusts of wind kept fluttering our costumes and making our trick-or-treat bags fly up. We were approaching the house on Willow Hill, I had a heavy feeling in my stomach. My hands suddenly felt ice cold, I rubbed them together to make heat.

_/I hope Yugi can stay in the house for one hour,/_ I though. _/He's such a nice guy, but his looks can attract girls attention, I'd like him to join the club when he gets over his fears tonight./_

Such a nice guy, and we were about to do such a mean thing to him. But he would quickly get over it, and he'll be glad that we made him test his bravery. The eerie house came into view, I saw Yugi glance at it, then quickly turn to cross the street. He didn't want to go near it, especially on Halloween night, that would make it worse.

But Seto and I grabbed him by the arms, Yugi cried out in surprise. "Hey – let go! What are you guys doing?"

Yugi struggled to pull free, but Seto and I were much bigger (literally) and stronger. Marik led the way over the bare, dirt yard, up the sloping hill to the dark, silent house. Yugi tried to swing both arms, tried desperately to break free, but Seto and I dragged him onto the tilting porch and up to the front door.

"No! Please!" Yugi pleaded. "Please – don't do this! Don't!"

I turned to him, and even under the tan make-up, I could see the terror on his face. The poor teen was totally freaked! I knew I had to say something before we forced him into the haunted house. So I said something.

"Yugi, you'll be okay," it was cheesy, but it was better than how I treated my other victims-I mean new members. "Go inside, it'll be fun, we'll wait for you, I promise." total lie, but I had to get him in there for him to become a new member.

"You'll be proud of yourself." Marik told him, helping to push him up to the door. "And then you'll be in our club."

Marik went to the door and began pushing it open, it was thicker and probably heavier than it looked. Seto and I moved to shove Yugi inside, but to my surprise he reached out and grabbed my arm. "Let's all go in together-okay?"

I glanced at Seto and Marik. "No way," I replied. "You've got to prove your bravery, Yugi. See you in an hour."

We gave him a hard shove inside the house. Then we slammed the heavy door behind him.

"He seems so... scared," Seto said, his voice switching back to his original accent.

"He'll be okay," I said. "Let's wait for him down by the street."

We took our places at the bottom of the driveway, and waited.

And waited.

We checked out watches after ten minutes, then after twenty minutes, and after half an hour. My eyes shown with impression.

"Yugi is going great!" I whispered, my eyes on the dark windows of the house. "I didn't think he'd last _two_ minutes."

"He's a lot braver than I thought," Marik said from behind his insane look.

We huddled close together, staring up at the house as the wind shook the trees all around us. Heavy clouds rolled over the moon, covering us in darkness. We waited ten minutes more, then ten minutes more.

"He's going to do it," I said, checking my watch again. "He's going to stay in there for a whole hour!"

"Let's really give him a big cheer when he comes our," Marik suggested.

As the hour ended, we counted off the last thirty seconds our loud, one by one. Then we took a few steps up the driveway, eager to congratulate Yugi and welcome him to the Dangerous Shadows Club. But the front door didn't open, the house remained dark and silent.

Ten more minutes passed.

"I think he showing off." I said.

No one laughed, we kept our eyes raise to the house.

Ten more minutes, then ten more.

"Where _is_ he?!" Seto said, accidentally slipping back into the Egyptian accent. "Something's wrong, Bakura."

"Yugi should be out of there by now," Marik said in a trembling voice. (yes trembling)

I felt a chill run down my back, all of my muscles were tightening in dread. I knew my friends were right. Something bad hah happened inside that house. Something very bad.

"We have to go in there," Lori urged. "We have to find Yugi and get him out of there."

All three of us exchanged frightened glances. We didn't want to walk up that driveway, we didn't want to go inside that house to look for a kid.

But we didn't have a choice.

"Maybe we should wait a few more minutes," I suggested, trying to stop my legs from shaking. "Maybe he doesn't have a watch. Maybe he's –"

"Come one, Bakura." Seto gave me a hard tug. "Yugi isn't coming out, we have to go get him ourselves."

The wind swirled around us, fluttering our costumes as we made our way up to the front door. I started to open the door, but my hand was so sweaty, the doorknob slid under my grasp. Finally, Marik and I pushed open the heavy door. The rusty hinges creaked as we opened the door and peered into the solid blackness.

"Yugi?" I called. "Yugi – you can come out now!" my voice sounded tiny and hollow.

No reply.

"Yugi? Yugi? Where are you?" all three of us began calling him.

The floor groaned and creaked beneath us as we took a few steps into the living room. The wind rattled the old windowpanes.

"Yugi – can you hear us? Yugi?"

A loud crash made all three of us cry out.

The front door had slammed shut, we peeked at it and cried out again to see that it wasn't even _there_ anymore!

"J-just the wind, guys." Marik choked out.

"Really? I don't think the wind's responsible for making the door _disappear_ Marik!" Seto hissed.

It was much darker with the door closed and gone, but it didn't stay dark for long. Pale light flickered at the top of the stairs. It looked at first like dozens of fireflies clustered together.

I gasped as the light flared brighter, and floated down the stairs, like a shimmering cloud.

"Let's get out!" I cried.

"Tell me! How do we do that with the door gone!" Marik yelled at me.

The shimmering cloud spread around us, and inside it I saw two frightening figures – a ghostly man and woman, hazy and transparent except for their red, glowing eyes.

Their terrifying eyes sparkled like fiery coals as they circled us, floating silently.

_*I can see right through them!*_ I realized. This house really is haunted.

"Wh-where's Yugi?" I managed to choke out.

The man's voice was a dry whisper, the sound of wind through dead leaves. "Your friend? He went out the back door." the ghost replied. "About an hour ago."

"We didn't want to let him go," the woman whispered, her red eyes glowing brighter. "But he made a bargain with us." she snickered, a dry, dead laugh. "He promised that if we let him go, three kids would come in to take his place."

"And here you are," said the ghostly man, flashing a terrifying, dead smile. "Here you are."

"Don't look so frightened, kids." the woman rasped, floating closer. "You might as well make yourselves at home, you're all going to be here – _forever_!"

* * *

Yugi: That was so uncool...

Bakura: YOU MADE ME COWER AT THE SIGHT OF GHOSTS! I'M PRACTICALLY ONE MYSELF DAMMIT!

In the story you aren't...

Marik: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!

Seto: YOU MADE ME BE FRIENDS WITH THE INSANE DISASTER!

HEY! Leave me alone I'm trying to write!


	2. Teacher's Pet

Hello peolz!

Yami: Ugh...

Bakura: It's ME who should be saying that Pharaoh...

Yami: Just because the chapter stars you and Marik doesn't mean a thing to me...

**_DISCLAIMER - I OWN NOTHING!_**

* * *

Teacher's Pet

Do you like snakes?

If you're in Mr. Blankenship's class,, you _have_ to like snakes – or you're in _major_ trouble!

Let me start at the beginning, on the first day of school last September. Marik, my best friend, was shouting to me from my front porch. "Bakura, move it! We'll be late!"

I grabbed my black denim jacket and covered the top of my spiky hair under my black cap. I hurried, even though I knew Marik would never leave without me.

Marik and I had walked to school together every day since kindergarten, practically everyone is scared of us. We don't care, as long as they stay _away_ from us! We've always liked to do the same sort of stuff – like scare little kids and play pranks on the snobby kids and people we just don't like.

Marik and I were starting eleventh grade, at our school, eleventh-graders get to do more fun stuff – like go on a trip to a state in the U.S.A.

We were supposed to have Mr. Sennin this year, (yes, I'm making Atem their suppose-to-be teacher, so sue me!) the coolest teacher in the whole school. Mr. Sennin is the kind of teacher who take the whole class in-line skating so that when someone falls down, he can talk to us about gravity! Even though we already know about it.

Marik and I figured this would be just about the best school year ever.

So you can imagine our surprise when we walked into our classroom and saw teacher writing his name on the board. The teacher wasn't Mr. Sennin, it was a man named Mr. Blankenship. Marik and I both groaned in disappointment. Mr. Blankenship was a strange-looking dude. He was really, really tall and really, really skinny. Not to mention he was almost completely bald. His clothes were pretty bad, too. Especially the weird turtleneck sweater he was wearing with the beige, brown, and black diamonds all over it.

He greeted Marik and me at the door and asked our names.

"I'm Bakura Tenno." I said.

"I'm Marik Ishtar." Marik said.

"I'm just getting things together right now. Why don't you two join the other and take a tour around the room?" Mr. Blankenship suggested.

The room looked pretty dull – not cool the way Mr. Sennin would have done it. Mr. Blankenship had set up the typical stuff – reading corner, computer corner, and a corny "Welcome Back" bulletin board.

The only unusual things were the five or six glass tanks placed around the classroom. I walked over to one of the tanks and pressed my nose up against the glass. Not must to see – some rocks, a pile of dried grass, a stick, and...

"_Aaaagh!_" I yelled out in shock.

Then I just stood there, pointing at the long, skinny, hissing creature. I may love snakes, but I don't get along well with the ones who are owns by others. I can deal with my own snakes, and maybe wild ones, but already owned snakes are _not_ on my list!

I wanted to turn away from the snake's angry glare, but I couldn't. I seemed to be paralyzed, frozen stiff. And my hear was pounding so hard, I though it was going to pop out of my chest!

I was Marik who broke the snake's spell over me, he came over and shoved me out of the way to get a better view. "Oh come on, it's just a snake! I thought you liked snakes Bakura?" he said, saying that last part in a teasing voice.

"I may like snakes! But snakes that are already owned, I stay _away_ from!"

"I see you've met one of my little pals," Mr. Blankenship said to us, smiling. "We're going to study snakes this year. Fascinating creatures... fascinating.."

Leaning over the cage, Mr. Blankenship turned to me. "Did you know that snakes can live for months without food? Of course, they'd much rather swallow a tasty little mouse instead. Watch."

He reached into a smaller cage hidden behind a bookshelf and grabbed a small white by the tail. The mouse tried to wriggle free, but Mr. Blankenship held tight to its slender pink tail. He dangled the thrashing, wriggling mouse over the snake's tank for a few seconds, then dropped it right nest to the snake.

I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't help myself.

The snake snapped open its jaws, and swallowed the little white mouse – whole! I let out a groan as I watched the pink tail slide past the snakes teeth like a spaghetti noodle. Even _my_ snakes ate their meals more cleanly!

I really felt disturbed to watch a snake eat that way. But there was no way I was giving Mr. Blankenship the satisfaction of knowing he had totally made me mad.

"Who's next?" Mr. Blankenship asked, rubbing his long, slender hands together. "Who's hungry?"

That's when I realized that _all_ of the glass cages in the room were filled with Mr. Blankenship's slimy, slithering, unclean, hissing little "pals."

Marik and I tried to like Mr. Blankenship's class, but it wasn't easy. For one thing, he kept adding more and more snakes, which could bite me if let loose. Soon, one entire wall was filled with glass tanks.

The snakes slighter silently, their black eyes following Mr. Blankenship. "There are more snakes than kids in here!" I whispered to Marik one day.

It seemed as if Blankenship could talk about nothing else! In a quick science walk-through, we studied about the hatching of snake eggs. For a history walk-through, we read stories about ancient beliefs in serpents. For a geometry walk-through, we made chalk drawings of snakeskin patterns. I swear he was trying to shove _every_ snake fact _into_ our _heads_!

One enormous glass cage behind Mr. Blankenship's desk stood empty. Marik and I wondered what he planned to put in there. "A giant python!" Marik guessed.

I shuddered. I _really_ didn't need to be around another snake that would hate me.

Every time I peered into a glass cage and saw a snake staring back at me, I panicked. I knew the snakes hated being cooped up in those tanks, except maybe my snakes. Something in their eyes told me that they weren't going to be like my snakes, if they ever got out, they would go for the first human they saw.

I hoped to the devil it wasn't me!

One night I was lying in bed, trying to get to sleep. Pale moonlight washed over my room from the open window. I saw a shadow move against the wall. Guessing it was one of my snakes escaping from their tanks, I clicked on my bed table lamp. When I saw the slithering creature, I let out a cry of surprise.

It was indeed a snake, but not one of mine. It was slithering out of my backpack on the floor. How had it escaped from its tank? Hoe had it crept into my backpack?

Frozen in shock, I watched it slither over my shag rug, making its way to my bed. I let out a yell and forced myself to sit up, I tried to scramble away, but I felt something warm and dry curl around my arm.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit –!" I was cursing repeatedly. I felt something like a rope tightening around my ankle. Another snake slithered over my pillow, two more snakes crawled over my pajama legs.

"Aaaaagh!" my little cry escaped my lips in a quick burst.

The snakes tightened themselves around me, curling around my waist, my arms, my legs. One of them slithered through my spiky hair!

I started to shudder and shake, I shook so hard, I woke myself up.

Damn! What a crazy nightmare!

Mr. Blankenship and his room full of snakes were ruining my life! But what could I do?

The next day I tried to switch my seat to one far away from the snake tanks, but the tanks were everywhere now. On the shelves, on the tables, stacked along the window ledges, every day there seemed to be more of them! I tried hard not to think about the snakes around the room. I actually tried to concentrate on the lesson that Mr. Blankenship was teaching – the snakes of New Mexico.

But just as Mr. Blankenship began to discuss the head of the desert, I heard a _thud_. Then Ame Okiawa let out a shrilled scream.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I bumped a cage, I let out one of the mice!"

"Where? Where did it go?" Mr Blankenship cried excitedly.

"There it goes!" Marik cried, pointing. The little white mouse scampered across the floor. Kids screamed and laughed.

But Mr. Blankenship had a serious, angry expression on his face. "Grab it! Grab it – quick!" he shouted.

"It's over there!" shouted Seiya Mizuno*, pointing to the window in the corner. Mr. Blankenship always left that window open so his snake pals could get fresh air.

Mr. Blankenship dived across the room, the mouse scuttled onto the window ledge. Mr. Blankenship grabbed for the tail and missed, the mouse vanished out the window.

Our teacher turned beet-red, even the top of his bald head was red. "Now look what you've done!" he screamed at Ame. "You let a perfectly good snake dinner get away!" he looked at the class. "You will all have to be taught to be more careful," Mr. Blankenship bellowed. "Perhaps an extra homework assignment will help you all remember. I want three pages on the feeding habits of the eastern diamondback rattler. And I want it tomorrow!"

"What is his problem?" I whispered to Marik.

"Bakura!" Mr. Blankenship shouted. "I heard that! _You_ will write a _ten_-page essay!"

"But – but –!" I sputtered.

"And you will clean the snake cages for the next two weeks!"Mr. Blankenship added.

I clamped my mouth shut to keep myself from getting in ever worse trouble. But I was so angry, I could have let _all_ of his mice out of their cages!

Which gave me a great idea. "Marik," I whispered when Mr. Blankenship had turned away. "After school. My house, get ready for Operation Mouse Theft."

Later, after school, Marik and I worked out all of the details. Operation Mouse Theft would take place on Thursday night, after out parents went to play bridge. The plan was simple, but excellent. Marik and I were going to sneak into school and steal all of the white mice. We could just picture Mr. Blankenship's face when he arrived Friday morning and found the mice missing.

Thursday seemed to stretch on forever, I barely heard a word Mr. Blankenship said, I was too busy watching the clock. Waiting for the bell to ring. I know I ate dinner with my family – but don't ask me what he had. All I could think about was Operation Mouse Theft. Finally, my parents said good-bye, left the right phone numbers, and drove off to their bridge tournament. It didn't take long before Marik gave me our secret signal – a single ring of the phone.

My heart pounding, I pulled on my blank jeans and dark jacket and raced up the block to Marik's house. He was waiting for me at the bottom of the driveway .

"What took you so long?" he demanded. "You're not wimping out – are you?"

"Now way!" I smacked him. "Let's go."

Half walking, half jogging, we made our way to school. It was a cool, breezy night, the trees shivered, shedding fat brown leaves. Shadows twisted and bent over our path as we crept up to the dark school building.

"Around the back." I whispered.

The school seemed so much larger, so much scarier at night, bathed in total blackness. We found Mr. Blankenship's classroom. Marik clicked on his flashlight.

"No – turn it off!" I instructed, smacking him. "Someone may see us."

He obediently clicked off the light, we spotted the open window, the window in the corner that Mr. Blankenship always leaves open. My hands felt cold and wet as I grabbed the stone window ledge and pulled myself up. Inside the room, I turned and helped pull Marik in.

"It – it's so dark," he whispered, huddling close to me. "Can't we turn on the flashlights?"

"Okay," I whispered back. "But keep the light down on the floor."

Our circles of yellow light swept over the floor, slowly, we made our way to the table that held the mice cages. The floorboards creaked under our sneakers. I glanced around the room. Tiny lights flickered in the blankness. It took me a long moment to realize they weren't lights. They were glowing snake eyes.

"They – they're all watching us," I whispered to Marik. "The snakes – they're –"

So many glowing eyes, so many snakes! All around us, staring... staring...

I forgot to watch where I was going, I stumbled over a chair.

"Ow!" I cried out. I tried to catch my balance, but fell against a table.

A glass tank toppled to the floor with a shattering _crash_. I glanced in time to see two snakes slither onto the floor, they uncurled in the trembling light of my flashlight. Then moved quickly towards my legs.

"Marik – help!" I thrashed out my arms. I turned to run, and knocked over another snake cage.

A long black snake rolled silently onto the floor, arched itself up, opened its jaws and shot its head towards me.

"Run!" I shrieked. "Marik – the snakes are out!"

"How –?" Marik started.

I jumped as a snake slithered between my feet, we turned to run – but stopped as our lights played over the enormous, empty glass case.

Which wasn't empty anymore.

A giant gray-and-black cobra glared into the shaking lights. The cobra arched its head up, opened its jaws, and hissed at us, its red eyes gleaming excitedly.

_*When did that snake get in there?*_ I asked myself. _*The cage was empty this afternoon!*_

"R-run!" I stammered, grabbing Marik's shoulder.

But neither of us could move, we stood staring in frozen horror as the enormous cobra rose up, lifting itself up, out of the cage. It stood over us, at least six feet tall. Its eyes glowing, it's think tongue flicking across its open jaws. And as it rose up, its skin shifted and stretched. Its head tilted up, its body grew wide, grew arms, legs.

And we recognized him.

We saw him.

We knew him.

We knew we were staring at Mr. Blankenship.

The snake was Mr. Blankenship!

"Noooooooooooo!" did that terrified howl escape _my_ throat?! Or was Marik howling like some unearthly creature?

I only knew that we turned and ran. Dived out through the open window, into the dark night, and kept running. Running till we were safe at home, safe.

Safe from snakes.

Safe from the big snake.

Safe from Mr. Blankenship!

But safe for how long? Safe till we had to return to school the next morning?

Trembling with fright, Marik and I hesitated at the classroom door on Friday morning. What would Mr. Blankenship do to us now that we knew his horrible secret? What would he say?

He smiled.

He _smiled_ as Marik and I entered, and didn't say a word. The day went by like any other day. He didn't say a word about what happened the night before.

Until the final bell rang that afternoon, he dismissed the rest of the class, then turned to Marik and me. "I want you two to stay." he said sternly. He moved quickly to block the doorway.

We were alone with him now. He closed the door and moved toward us, rubbing his slender hands together, his dark eyes glowing excitedly.

Mr. Blankenship isn't such a bad guy, he made us a deal. He said he wouldn't tell anyone we broke into the school, and he promised not to harm us as long as we didn't tell anyone his secret.

Of course we Marik and I quickly agreed.

We preferred to leave with our lives thank you.

There's just one part of the deal that I hate.

We have to bring in white mice and feed him every afternoon. I really hate the way the nice wriggle and squirm as I hold them up by their pink tails. I always gave my snakes freshly dead mice than living ones.

But what choice do I have here?

A deal's a deal.

"Here you go, Mr. Blankenship. Open wide."

* * *

Bakura: Oh _no..._ you did NOT make me worship the Pharaoh at the beginning of this chapter did you?

Yep! OH! And cyber cookie for anyone who can find out what manga Seiya Mizuno is from! WITHOUT using google!

Bakura: DIE!

HEY! *flicks finger and freezes Bakura* Down fluffy...

Yami: Oh RA! Wait... CYBER cookie... er...

Ryou: BLACKMAIL!

Everyone: 0_o...

Ryou: What?


	3. Strained Peas

Okay! This has got to be my favorite so far!

Joey: It's NOT funny!

Yugi: *currently laughing on the ground* _YES_ it is!

Tristan: Joey it's BEYOND funny!

Joey: *fuming*

**_DISCLAIMER - I OWN ZILTCH!_**

* * *

Strained Peas

My life changed forever the day mom brought the new baby home from the hospital. My little sister is no ordinary baby.

If only she were.

I sat on the front steps with Mrs. Ishtar, waiting for mom and dad to bring the baby home. Mrs. Ishtar had stayed with me and dad while mom was in the hospital. I thought about the new baby, Serenity, a little sister.

Yuck.

I sighed and tapped a stick against the brick steps.

"Stop fidgeting, Joey," Mrs. Ishtar scolded. "Why don't you read your comic book until your parents get home?"

I opened my _Iron Man_ comic book and picked up where I'd left off. Iron Man has cornered a bad guy disguised as a kindly doctor. "Unmask yourself!" says Iron Man.

Iron Man rips the mask off the doctor's head, revealing the hideous face of a mad scientist. Iron Man gasps. "The Mark of Evil!" he cries. "Dr. Destro!"

Iron Man has never seen Dr. Destro before, but he recognizes the bad guy by the birthmark on his face – the Mark of Evil.

I heard a car coming and glanced up, dad's dark green Volvo chugged down the street and pulled into our driveway. Mom sat in the passenger seat, waving to me and smiling brightly.

Mrs. Ishtar gave me a little shove. "Go on," she said. "Go meet your new sister!"

_*Ugh,*_ I thought, I _ was_ glad to see mom though. I dragged myself over to the car.

Dad opened the car door, mom stepped out, carrying a little bundle in her arms. She bent down and said, "Look, Joey, isn't she adorable?"

I looked at the crumpled red face in my mother's arms. A think fuzz of dark red hair covered her head, she had blue eyes and tiny, wet red lips. No teeth, she waved a wrinkled fist in the air, then stuffed it into her mouth. I didn't think she was adorable, I thought she was kind of ugly. (sorry Serenity)

But I nearly choked. On Serenity's cheek was a tiny, brown, heart-shaped birthmark.

I pointed to the birthmark and gasped, "The Mark of Evil! Just like Dr. Destro!"

"Cut it out, Joey," dad said sternly. "This is no time for your crazy comic book talk." he turned his back on me to gawk at Serenity. "She's perfect," dad said, giving Mon's shoulders a squeeze.

_*How could he be so stupid?*_ I picked up my comic book and pointed to the mark Dr. Destro's face.

"Look!" I cried. "Serenity has a birthmark like Dr. Destro's! It's a sign of evil!"

Mom smiled vaguely at me. "Don't be silly," she said. She carried the baby inside, and the rest of us followed her.

Soon grandma and grandpa came over, and aunt Ishizu and Uncle Shadi. (Isis is Mrs. Ishtar) They oohed and ahhed every time Serenity burped, or hiccuped, or cooed. It was disgusting.

"Look at that – she blew a bubble!"

"She's a genius!"

"Maria, darling, let me hold her for a few minutes," grandma begged mom.

But mom said, "Let Joey hold her, he's her big brother, after all."

"No," I said, backing away. "That's okay."

"Oh come on, Joey, you'll like it." mom smiled and put Serenity in my arms. She showed me how to hold her. Serenity burped and everyone laughed.

As I held her, I thought, _*She's sort of cute, I guess. Maybe I got a little carried away with that Mark of Evil stuff. After all, comic books don't come true, and Serenity's just a baby.*_

But like I said, she was no ordinary baby.

I swear I saw something glint in her light blue eyes. That little heart-shaped birthmark on her cheek seemed to darken.

Then Serenity opened her mouth wide – and threw up all over me.

"Ugh!" I cried. I was covered with milky white glop.

Mom quickly took the baby.

Serenity started crying. "Poor little Serenity," mom said.

Poor little _Serenity! I_ was the one she threw up on!

And she did it on purpose, I knew she did.

That night, the howling began.

A horrible sound woke me up, a loud, screeching wail. I sat up in bed, shaking, my eardrums rattled in my ears.

_*What was that noise?*_

I got out of bed to see what was going on, mom was walking Serenity up and down the hallway, patting and shushing her. But Serenity didn't stop screaming, she sounded like some kind of wild animal in pain.

"Mom – what's wrong with her?" I asked.

"Nothing," mom replied. "It's just a normal baby sound. Go back to sleep."

I didn't get any sleep, Serenity never stopped crying.

_*That's no normal baby sound,*_ I thought. _*No one can tell me that terrifying screech is normal.*_

Serenity's wailing continued, night after night, each night worse than the last. Wild screams that even the neighbors could hear. Monstrous screams. When Serenity started crying, the neighborhood dogs threw their heads back and howled along with her.

I could swear I saw her birthmark grow, just a little.

A few months passed, Serenity learned to crawl early. Mom and dad thought that meant she was smart, I knew better.

She had a mission – get rid of me.

She wanted to be an only child.

The crying didn't get rid of me, the puking didn't get rid of me. But Serenity had other tricks up her little terrycloth sleeve.

One morning before school I found Serenity in my room, chewing on something. She held a bit of paper in her hand, when she saw me coming, she tried to stuff it into her mouth. I snatched it away from her.

"Oh no!" I cried. "My homework!"

Or what was left of it, mostly just my name and the date, covered with drool.

Serenity had eaten my homework.

She swallowed and smiled that evil smile.

Ha-ha, her smiled seemed to say. Gotcha.

Sure I never really did my homework and gave lazy excuses, but how would I explain that my new baby sister, who is a monster, drooled all over my homework!?

"Mom!" I called. "Serenity ate my homework!"

Mom swooped in and picked up Serenity. "She _what_? Is she all right?"

"Mom! What about my homework?"

Mom frowned at me as if she just realized what I was telling her. "Joey, you didn't do your homework, did you? And now you're trying to blame it on Serenity!"

"Mom, I'm telling the truth! Give Serenity an X ray. You'll see my homework in her stomach!"

Mom shook her head. "Joey, what's wrong with you lately?"

Later that day, when my teacher asked me where my math homework was, I told her my baby sister's stomach.

She kept me after school.

That's what I got for telling the truth.

"Joey! Get in here! I want to talk to you!" dad called.

I was playing in my room, looking at my Duel Monster cards, I made sure to keep them out of my sister's sights, so I always kept my door closed. And I hid the box I put them in at the back of the top of my closet.

I found dad in my parents' bedroom, at least, I _thought_ it was their room. It was where their room was suppose to be. Only it didn't look much like their room anymore. Normally, my parents' room was white, I mean WHITE. White runs, white walls, white curtains, white bedspread, I wasn't allowed to play in there, or eat, or do anything. They were always worried about all that white stuff.

The room wasn't white anymore, it was multicolored. Paint splashed everywhere.

"Joey," dad said. "You are in big trouble, HUGE trouble."

Little jars of paint from my paint set littered the floor. Red, blue, green, yellow, and black paints were splashed all over the white rug, the white curtains, the white bedspread, the white walls. And in the middle of it all, spattered with blood-red paint, Serenity sat laughing her evil laugh.

"You have one minute to give an explanation for this, Joey," dad said. "Go."

"I didn't do it," I said. "Serenity did it."

Dad laughed sarcastically. "Serenity did it? Serenity took your paint set, brought it all the way to our room, opened the jars, and splattered paint all over everything?"

"Yes," I said.

"Joey, go to your room."

"But, dad – I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Oh no? Go to your room and think about it until you can see what you did wrong."

"Dad – Serenity did it! She did it on purpose – to get me into trouble! You're playing right into her hands!"

Dad gave me his stony glare, he pointed to my room.

I went. There's no fighting dad's stony glare.

_*She's a monster,*_ I thought. _*She's really a monster.*_

But she won't get away with this, I'll find a way to convince them, somehow. I'm not leaving this family, _she_ is.

The next day, when I came home from school, I heard terrible screams from the kitchen. I ran in, Serenity sat in her high chair, screaming with laughter. My mother stood beside her, mom, Serenity, the floor, the walls – all covered with green slime. Green slime oozed out of the corner of Serenity's mouth. Serenity had spewed green slime everywhere.

"She's a monster!" I shouted. "This is proof!"

Mom ignored me. "Serenity, you naughty girl!" she said. "Strained peas all over the kitchen!"

Serenity banged her spoon on her high chair tray. More green stuff splattered on the wall.

All right, it wasn't exactly green slime, but it was close enough. Strained peas, they're green, and they're slimy.

Mom said, "Joey, get a sponge and help me clean this up."

"Why do I have to clean it? _She_ made the mess!"

"Joey, I'm tired, just help me out, please."

I stared at Serenity's pea-covered face. Something was different, her eyes. Her eyes – were brown!

"Mom!" I cried. "Serenity's eyes changed colors! I told you she had evil powers!"

Mom just laughed. "Most babies are born with blue eyes," she explained. "Sometimes their eyes change after a few –"

"Mom, that's impossible! People's eyes don't change color!"

"Yes they do, Joey, some babies –"

I grabbed her by the arms and tried to shake some sense into her. "Mom – you're losing it. Serenity's brainwashing you! She's trying to get rid of me! We've got to send her back – before it's too late!"

"Joey, that's enough! You've been jealous of Serenity from the beginning. It's time for you to get over all of this and start acting a little more mature!"

I felt like tearing my hair out. Why wouldn't my parents believe me? How could I get the to see what Serenity was doing?

Mom started cleaning the strained peas from Serenity's face. The birthmark seemed to glow like a tiny spark.

The worst was yet to come.

I was sitting in the den, watching TV. Minding my own business, then I heard a creeping sound...

Creep, creep, creep. The sound of little knees scraping against the run.

_*Oh no,*_ I thought. _*Here she comes.*_

I turned around to look. Serenity was crawling toward me – clutching a pair of scissors in her tiny fist! She crawled closer, closer, the evil gleam in her eye, the birthmark pulsing on her face.

She was going to stab me!

"NO!" I yelled. I back ed away. She kept crawling toward me, the scissors gleaming.

_*This is it,*_ I thought. _*My baby sister is going to kill me.*_

"Joey!" my mom stood in the doorway. Then she ran to Serenity and snatched the scissors away from her.

"Thanks mom. You saved my life!" I cried.

"How could you _do_ this?" mom said. "How could you let Serenity carry around such a sharp object! She could have been seriously hurt!"

"_She_ could have been hurt! Mom, she was going to kill me!"

"Joey, this is ridiculous."

"Mom, she's trying to get rid of me! She wants to be an only child!"

"I think that's what _you_ want, Joey," mom said. "I think we need to have a long, long, talk."

"I'm not making this up, mom! Why won't you believe me? You always trusted me before – until Serenity came along!"

The phone rang, mom picked up Serenity and stormed off to the kitchen to answer it.

A few minutes later, I heard mom cry out, "Oh, no! No! I don't believe it!" I hurried to the kitchen to see what was wrong. Mom was crying, she said, "All right, Dr. Davis, we'll be there this afternoon."

She hung up the phone and cried some more. She gripped the wall as if she thought she'd faint. Then she stopped crying and stared at Serenity with a new, weird look on her face. A look of horror.

_*At last,*_ I thought. _*She believes me!*_

The doctor must have called to warn us that Serenity is a monster!

"That was the hospital," mom said in a slow, hoarse voice. "They said... they said –"

"That Serenity's a monster!" I finished for her.

Mom turned sharply to me. "Joey, stop it!" she scooped up Serenity and hugged her tightly, crying. "I can't believe it," she said. "I love her so much. But she's not really our baby."

"What?" I was afraid I hadn't heard her right. It seemed too good to be true. Had mom just said Serenity was not really my baby sister?

"Our real baby and Serenity were switched at birth," mom said through her tears. "Serenity is someone else's child."

Serenity wasn't my sister at all. Her real parents were probably monsters too. It explained everything.

"Yippee!" I shouted. I was free! Free from Serenity's evil! Everything would be okay now, we'd get my _real_ baby sister, and she'd be cute and normal like other babies. She wouldn't try to get rid of me, she wouldn't be a monster.

Mon started crying harder than ever, she carried Serenity upstairs to her and shut the door. I felt a little bit sorry, mom was really upset. I knew dad would be too.

_*But they'll be happier when we get our real baby,*_ I thought. _*And so will I.*_

Dad came home from work early, we bundled Serenity up and took her to the hospital. A nurse introduced us to a woman who held a baby Serenity's age. Serenity's real mother, holding my real sister, she had a heart-shaped birthmark on her cheek, just like Serenity's.

_*Monster mom,*_ I thought, even though she didn't look like a monster at all.

The nurse gave my mother the new baby, it seemed weird to call her Serenity, so mom decided to name her Kisara. When we got home, the first thing I did was check Kisara for birthmarks. She was clean, no birthmarks anywhere.

She was a sweet baby, white hair, smiling, and rosy white-cheeked. She looked like a fair skinned angel. She smiled and cooed at me.

I watched Kisara carefully the first day, just to be sure.

She didn't cry like an animal; she didn't spew peas or try to stab me; she's not out to get me; she's even cute!

Everything is going to be okay now.

Mom put Kisara to bed, I sneaked into her room to play with her for a few minutes.

I tickled her, she giggled. I tickled her again, this time she didn't giggle so much. So I tickled her one more time.

She opened her mouth and croaked, "If you tickle me again, kid, I'll rip your arm off!"

Her eyes bulged as she uttered a deep growl.

"Aaaauuugh!" I wailed. "A monster!"

I ran from the room, screaming my head off.

And as I was leaving, I heard the baby cackle, "I'll get rid of you, creep. Just wait till I can walk!"

* * *

Bakura: *laughing so hard he turns red* OH MY FUCKING RA! THAT IS HILARIOUS!

Joey: NO IT'S NOT!

Marik: SHUT UP DOGGIE! IT IS TOO!

Ryou: Oh god I think I'm gonna faint from laughing so hard!

I think we all are!


	4. Stranger In the Woods

Konichiwa! Chapter four has arrived!

Yugi: Okay! This is NOT funny Devil!

Leave me alone I'm just following the story!

**_DISCLAIMER - I OWN ONLY THE ACCOUNT THE STORY IS ON!_**

* * *

Stranger In the Woods

"This ruins everything, Yugi." wailed Yami when I called him to deliver the bad news. "I can't believe you're getting shipped off to... what's the name of that town, anyways?"

"Domino," I said, with a long, very sad sigh. I twisted the phone cord around and around my finger. "I could just _cry_."

I'm not usually so depressed. Actually, Yami says I'm annoying happy most of the time. But finding out that I'd be spending six weeks this summer with grampa Solomon in his game shop was enough to put me in a bad mood forever. I mean, the games there are _boring_ and there's nothing fun in Domino City! (I know that's not true, but I put it this way, so sue me)

I hoped that something exciting had happened to Domino since my last visit to grampa Solomon's two summers before. But when dad pulled the car into town, the place looked even duller and drabber than I remembered. One grocery, a hardware store, a gas station, and a not-so-big but a not-so-small library.

We bumped our way down the street that grampa lived on and pulled up in front of the small, two-story Kame Game Shop. I climbed out of the car and looked around. Fields and forests couldn't be seen as far as I could see. Grampa Solomon came running out, dressed in his usual light purple shirt under an old pair of faded overalls and sneakers. He looked a little different than I remembered, a little older, a little more wrinkled, a little shorter maybe?

We all greeted one another, then mom and dad followed grampa Solomon into the house to have tea. I started to let my dog, Joey out of the car so that he could explore the yard. (Haha! Get it!) But the big dirty blond mutt pulled back, his tail between his legs.

"Joey – what's wrong boy?" I asked. He acted like a big scaredy-cat, whimpering and huddling in the backseat.

When I finally coaxed him out with a doggie pretzel, he started barking really loud, and running around and around in circles.

The thing you have to know about Joey is that he _never_ barks. He's really well-behaved. That's why he was being allowed to stay in Domino with me while mom and dad went of on their big trip to Asia. I should have known that something was terribly wrong as soon as Joey started barking. But I didn't guess. I just figured the big dog was excited.

Then when grampa came outside to see what all the fuss was about, Joey really went crazy – growling and snapping like a mean old junkyard hound.

"Oh, dear, Yugi?" he said nervously. "Why is he doing that? Maybe you should put him in the yard."

I didn't want to tie him up, but Joey was just going ballistic! So I tied him to a miniature oak tree and ran back to the porch to say good-bye to my parents.

"Sweetie, I'll miss you," mom said. "You won't be able to call us because we'll be moving around so much. But we'll call when we can and send lots of postcards."

After a lot of hugs and kisses, my parents were off on their trip. I waved sadly, until their car disappeared down the street of cars.

_*What a boring summer this is going to be,*_ I thought glumly.

I had no idea how _wrong_ I was.

Grampa Solomon did his best to cheer me up. "I have a surprise for you, sonny." he said. "Your favorite cookies."

Cookies? I'd almost forgotten that grampa Solomon made the best peanut-butter fudgies in the world.

I took a cookie off the tray he offered. Still warm and soft from the oven. I bit into it eagerly. It was chewy and fudgey and peanut buttery – but something was wrong. Something didn't taste right.

Was it too salty? Were the ingredients different?

_*How weird,*_ I thought. _*Grandpa's cookies are always perfect.*_

I could see him watching me eagerly, so I finished the cookie and pretended to love it. Then I jammed a few cookies in my pocket and threw on my denim jacket. "I'm taking Joey for a walk," I called out. "Just to relax him."

"Have fun Yugi," he said. "But stay out of the old park around the corner okay?"

_*That's weird,*_ I thought. _*He never warned me away from the woods during my other visits.*_ the park was practically full of trees, a building or two could be hidden in there!

Joey and I had a nice walk in the sloping, green fields. At times, the dog seemed as calm and playful as always, but then he would start barking excitedly again – for no reason at all.

I couldn't get to sleep that night. Maybe it was because Joey had to spend the night outside as punishment for his constant barking. At home, he _always_ slept at the foot of my bed. I tried reading a book, but that only made me feel more awake, so I gazed out the window and counted the stars.

And that's when I saw the frightening lights.

In the purple night sky, six lights, forming a circle.

At first I stared with my mouth hanging open in amazement, the lights hovered over the old park around the corner. I felt their light washing over me – brightening my whole room, bright as daylight.

Then slowly, the circle of lights lowered into the woods, and it became dark again.

A cold shudder shook my body. What had I just seen?

I crept down the hall to grampa's room and called softly outside his closed door. But he has always been a sound sleeper. He didn't wake up. Back in my room, I could hear Joey down in the yard, barking furiously, I shut the window tight.

How would I ever get to sleep?

"Do you know what those lights are out in the old park?" I asked grampa Solomon as I sat down to breakfast.

He narrowed his eyes at me. I thought I saw his dark cheeks take a pink tint. "Lights? What lights Yugi? How do you want your eggs?"

"Scrambled, please. There were about six lights, all in a circle. They were so weird."

"Don't worry, Yugi. I"m sure it's just reflections or something. Have you fed Joey?"

_*Why is he so eager to change the subject?_ I wondered. _*Why does he seem so nervous?*_

His scrambled eggs tasted different too. Not as fluffy and fresh-tasting as in the past.

After I ate, I took Joey's bowl and filled it up with his breakfast and took it to Joey. Then I sat on the lawn, talking to the dog, and staring at the direction of the old park around the corner – hoping to see something, _anything_, that might explain those lights. Thinking about those lights made me feel strange. You know how your stomach feels after you've eaten five slices of pizza? That was it, only more nervous and fluttery.

My stomach felt even funnier after grampa and I took a drive to the hardware store.

Did I say "drive"?

It was more like a roller coaster ride!

To my shock, my usually careful grampa drove like a maniac! We almost clipped the mailbox on the way out of the driveway, then he kept weaving from lane to lane and whizzing right through stop signs. I held to the dashboard, too terrified to scream.

I got my voice back when we finally pulled over on Main Street. "Grampa Solomon!" I cried breathlessly. "Is there something wrong with car? Why are you driving like this?"

"Like what?" he replied innocently.

The only thing more frightening that drive through town was the drive back to the house! By the time we returned, we'd gone through two red lights, terrorized a man on his bike, and missed a parked car by an inch!

Grampa Solomon didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong.

My heart still in my mouth, I leaped out of the car and staggered over to Joey. He wagged his long, bushy, dirty blond tail and licked my face, as if I'd been gone for ten years!

But he stopped in mid-lick when grampa Solomon climbed out of the car. "GRRRRRRR," he growled ferociously, straining at his leash.

_*What is going on here?*_ I asked myself.

Why does everything seem so different – so _wrong_?

I saw the eerie lights again that night, and the next too. Bigger and brighter than ever, hovering in a circle over the old park .

As I pressed my face up against the window to watch them, I suddenly had a frightening thought. They looked just like the light of the alien spaceship in my favorite movie, _ Attack of the Pod People_.

I tried desperately to come up with another explanation for the lights.

Streetlights?

_Shining upward and in a circle? I don't think so._

A plane?

_Planes can't hover like that, and why would a plane hover over the park anyways?_

I felt a chill down my back as I realized there was no other explanation. Aliens had invaded Domino, and they were landing in the old park around the corner near my grampa's house!

Wrapping my arms around myself to stop chills, I found myself thinking about grampa Solomon. He seemed so different, so changed. Had the aliens taken over grampa Solomon's mind? Just like in the _Pod People_ movie? I could hear Joey start to bark down in the yard. Dogs have a sixth sense, I knew. Joey sensed that grampa Solomon was possessed by an alien. That's why he had been barking and growling at him.

Suddenly gripped with fear, I turned away from the window.

Was I next? Would the aliens come after me next?

I had to get out of there. Run away.

But where?

Mom and dad were thousands of miles away. Should I call my best friend, Yami, back home? Ryou or Malik maybe? Nah, they'd think I was joking, besides, how could they help?

I needed someone closer!...

_The police!_

Trying not to make a sound, I crept down the stairs to the phone in the kitchen. Grampa Solomon – or _whoever_ he was – had gotten there first.

He had his back to me and couldn't see me. But I could hear him: "Don't worry, my grandson doesn't know. Yes, yes, I told him to stay away from the park around the corner. And he won't know anything until it's all over tomorrow night."

My palms started sweating and I got that itchy feeling under my chin I always get when I'm really nervous.

"All over?"

Until _what_ was all over? The alien invasion? Until Joey and I had been take off to some weird planet where they'd up us in cages?

I had to get back to my room – and fast. I turned back to the stairs, but the floorboards creaked loudly beneath me.

Grampa Solomon whirled around to face me and I gasped, my mouth dropped open in horror.

My grampa's face was glowing _green!_

"Yugi – what are you doing up?" grampa Solomon demanded. He took a few steps toward me. I suddenly realized I was _terrified_ of him.

"Uh... just going back to b-bed." I stammered, backing away.

I hurried up the stairs, my entire body trembling. I closed the bedroom door tightly and waited. Waited to hear grampa Solomon pad up the stairs and go into his room.

I knew I couldn't spend another minute in the house. I couldn't stay there with an alien from outer space!

Frantically, I pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt. I had to get to the police. I had to tell them about the aliens.

But would they believe me?

*T_hey will if I go to the park and see the aliens first,*_ I decided.

I know, I know. Wasn't really thinking clearly, but I was having a major panic attack. And it seemed like the best idea at the time.

I sneaked silently down the stairs and out the back door. I should have woken up Joey and brought him with me to the park, but I was so out of my mind with fear, I didn't even think of him. I ran across the backyard, heading to the woods. Nothing but darkness ahead.

No lights hovering in the sky.

What was waiting for me in that darkness?

Were there really aliens there?

I needed to get a glimpse of them – just a glimpse – so I could describe them to the town police and prove there were aliens there.

The woods were dark, steamy, and wet. It was like plunging thought a think jungle. There was no path, so I had to push my way through, stumbling over fallen logs and marshy ground. As I made my way, I kept hearing rustling noses on both side of me.

Was I being followed? Was I being watched?

As I stopped to catch my breath, I light appeared up ahead. Swallowing hard, I moved toward it, the trees thinned out, and I found myself in a large clearing.

What were those sounds?

Voices?

Human voices?

Or alien voices?

I gasped as the bright lights washed over me, the white beam blinded me, captured me in a harsh spotlight.

I shielded my eyes at the light hovered over me, closing in, covering me, holding me helpless.

"Bring him here," I heard a deep voice order.

I felt hands tugging me.

I tried to pull away, but my captor was too strong.

"You can't take over my brain!" I shrieked. "I won't let you!"

"Cut the lights," another voice ordered.

The harsh lights dimmed to black. I could see smaller lights around me. As my eyes adjusted to the now darker area, I saw a teen about my age, or older walk over to me. He was wearing a blue shirt and a dark blue jeans, with a white trench coat. (Guess who!)

"Young man, I don't know what you're yelling about," he said. "But you can't just wander onto a film set. You just ruined a shot that took three hours to set up."

Film set? I opened my mouth to reply, but no sound came out.

"We asked the people in town to stay out of the park," the man said sternly. "We're finishing our movie tomorrow. Then we'll be out of here."

"M-movie?" I took a deep breath, trying to get myself together. Suddenly, I heard some dogs barking.

"The dogs are ready," a young woman carrying a clipboard announced. She raised a dog whistle to her lips and blew it. It made no sound that I could hear, but the dogs immediately barked louder.

_*That explains why Joey has been barking all the time,*_ I told myself. _*He keeps hearing the dog whistle from the park.*_

Everything made sense now, grampa Solomon warning me to stay out of the park. The bright lights, my grampa saying on the phone that it would all be over tomorrow night.

"I-I'm sorry," I told the teen. "Really, I'm so sorry."

I felt like a total jerk.

I ran all the way home. Grampa Solomon was waiting for me at the back door, his face tight with worry. "Yugi, where did you go? Where have you been? I was about to call the police."

I told him how sorry I was, and then the words just burst out of me. "I saw the lights, and Joey was acting so strange. And your skin was green, and you drove so wildly. And the cookies were wrong, and – and –"

Grampa Solomon wrapped me in a big hug and held me till I stopped trembling. When I finally back away, he was chuckling. "I guess my green Halloween mask would give _anyone_ the creeps!" he declared.

I laughed too.

"I should have told you about the movie folks," grampa Solomon said, shaking his head. "But I figured they'd be gone by tomorrow."

I started to say something, but he raised a hand to stop me. "I have more to explain," he said, frowning. "I have a confession to make, Yugi. I lost my glasses just before you arrived. And I've been trying to get along without them."

"That's why your driving was so wild?" I cried.

He nodded. "And that's why my cooking may have been a little off, it's so hard to see the ingredients." we hugged each other again and shared a good laugh. "I can't believe you thought I was an alien from outer space!" grampa Solomon said. "You've seen too many movies!"

He was right, I felt like such a fool.

We had some hot chocolate, it didn't taste quite right, but I didn't complain. Then I made my way upstairs to go to sleep. The night had grown cool, and I love sleeping with the windows open. So I went to the linen closet to get an extra blanket.

As I pulled open the door, grampa Solomon's glasses tumbled out.

_*Terrific!*_ I thought. _*Now he won't have to buy new ones.*_

I picked them up and carried them down the hall to his room. "Grampa Solomon?" I called.

The door was open a crack. I pushed it open and stepped in side, he stood with his back to me. "Grampa Solomon – look. I found your –"

My words choked in my throat as he turned to face me.

And I saw the four slimy tentacles waving at his sides. His skin glowed green in the light from the dresser top. And his third creepy, crazy eye on his head looked at me as his mouth opened.

"You found my glasses!" he croaked, reaching out all four tentacles toward me. "Thank you Yugi."

* * *

Solomon: I'M NOT AN ALIEN!

Yugi: Okay... I think I'm going to stay away from green things for awhile...

Joey: *growls* I an't a dog I an't a dog I an't a dog...

Seto: Quit denying it and accept it!

Haha! Total chaos!


End file.
